Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, such as a copier or a laser beam printer, which includes an image reading unit.
Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there have been two types of image forming apparatuses, i.e., a front-access-type image forming apparatus having a structure in which a discharge tray for discharging recording paper having an image formed thereon faces the front side of the image forming apparatus, and a side-access-type image forming apparatus having a structure in which the discharge tray is directed in a lateral direction. In the front-access-type image forming apparatus, a cassette and a multi-tray, on each of which recording paper is set, are disposed at the front side of the image forming apparatus, and thus the front-access-type image forming apparatus is advantageous in usability.
An example of an image forming apparatus that allows reading of an image formed on a document and formation of an image on recording paper is an image forming apparatus which includes an auto document feeder (ADF) and has a structure in which an image reading unit capable of skimming through documents is disposed at an upper portion of the apparatus. Specifically, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2005-154022, 2001-109210, and 2013-3448, an image reading unit is disposed at an upper portion of an image forming apparatus. Such an image forming apparatus has a structure in which a document feed tray faces the back side of the apparatus and a document discharge tray faces the front side of the apparatus, or a structure in which a recording paper discharge tray of the image forming apparatus is also used as the document discharge tray. The image forming apparatus also has a structure in which the recording paper discharge tray is disposed at an upper portion of the image forming apparatus and an image reading apparatus is disposed so as to cover an upper portion of the recording paper discharge tray. In other cases, the image forming apparatus has a structure in which a sheet feed tray is disposed above a discharge tray, the discharge tray is also used as a discharge tray for discharging recording paper and documents, and the sheet feed tray is also used as a sheet feed tray for feeding recording paper and documents.
However, normal operations required for a user, such as setting of recording paper or documents and adjustment for regulation of an end position, are mainly carried out in a sheet feed unit. The image forming apparatus of the related art which includes the image reading unit disposed at an upper portion of the image forming apparatus is disadvantageous in usability for the following reasons.
Since the document feed tray is disposed at the back side of the image forming apparatus, the sheet feed unit is far from the user who is at the front of the apparatus, which may lead to a deterioration in the operability for setting a document. Further, when the document discharge tray faces in the same direction as the recording paper discharge tray, there is a concern that the recording paper discharge tray may be hidden by the discharged document. Furthermore, when the recording paper discharge tray is also used as the document discharge tray, there is a concern that documents and recording paper may be mixed on the tray. Also, when the sheet feed tray and the discharge tray are used for stacking both of recording paper and documents, there is a concern that documents and recording paper may be mixed on each tray.